


another beginning

by qwerty



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, First Meetings, M/M, Public Nudity, fluff and nonsense
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-16
Updated: 2013-01-16
Packaged: 2017-11-25 16:40:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 905
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/640954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/qwerty/pseuds/qwerty
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Another way that Merlin and Arthur meet for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	another beginning

There was possibly one instant, perhaps as long as the space of a heartbeat or two, in which Merlin could have called out and stopped the knghts, but he hesitated just long enough, caught by the way the sunlight illuminated their golden-haired leader as he threw back his head and laughed at something one of his men was saying.

Merlin sucked in his breath to speak, and the golden knight, still not looking where he placed his feet, stepped right on top of Merlin's little pile of clothes with his really quite foul-looking boots. There was nothing to but done but for Merlin to let out his held breath with an aggrieved exclamation of "Oi! Those were my only clean clothes, you giant clotpole!"

Then he realised he was standing barely waist-deep in the crystalline lake, and splashed backwards, crouching down.

The knight was still laughing, bright and unfettered by human consideration and courtesy. "And what were you and your clothes doing in my lake?" He hooked up Merlin's admittedly threadbare tunic with his little finger, as though it might soil his hand, and Merlin winced at the large muddy footprint squarely in the middle.

"I was bathing, you unmigitated arse. Something that you seem unfamiliar with. And what do you mean, your lake, this land belongs to-"

"The King of Camelot," the knight inserted smoothly, and grinned while his companions laughed and slapped his shoulder. "My father."

Merlin shrank further down in the water. "That just makes you an unmigitated royal arse who doesn't wash enough, then!" He eyed his pack with his travel-stained set of clothes, too far away and on the other side with the prat-prince and his merry men between him and questionable modesty. Not until they left, he decided, even though he was beginning to feel the chill as the sun dipped low and tinged the horizon a warm amber. He'd spent longer in the water than he had intended.

Merlin thought more uncharitable thoughts while the prince shook his fair head disbelievingly and his men chortled, which, well. "You can't talk to me like that," said the prince, but that was all he did.

Strange, because Merlin was already half-braced for them to take offense to his hasty words and punish him accordingly, but he wasn't going to look that gift horse in the mouth. He moved deeper anyway, assuming they just didn't want to get their nice armour and cloaks wet.

"Come on out," said the prince, a little tauntingly. "It's getting cold. I'll grant I did soil your clothes, though there wasn't much to ruin anyway." He tossed Merlin's tunic aside, and kicked at Merlin's breeches. "You can have my change of clothes as compensation. It's a bargain considering what you had there!" Another knight found Merlin's pack and nudged it with his foot.

"Stop kicking my things around! I don't need your help," Merlin snapped. "Just go away and leave me be."

"I swear on my honour, none of us will do you any harm," the prince said, rummaging in his own pack and pulling out a shirt and breeches that looked just as threadbare and worn as Merlin's own. "Come on, out."

The knight prodding Merlin's pack, a roguishly handsome sort with glossy brown locks, piped up, "Yes, we won't hurt you unless you want us to, and I can promise you'll like it," and was promptly slapped down by a tall, red-headed knight.

"Move, you're going to freeze if you stay in there much longer. We'll even turn around so as to preserve your maidenly modesty," the prince offered gallantly, and was as good as his word, dropping the clothes on a stone on the shore and turning his back as he stepped away. The others followed his example as well.

Merlin got out and dragged on the clothes quickly, not quite trusting the knights. And drew in a quick, surprised breath. They were incredibly soft, worn so thin he could barely feel them on his skin, like he was wearing nothing. And the way the prince looked at him when he turned back around, he might as well have been naked.

The shirt - Merlin had broad shoulders, at least, but his chest had nowhere the the prince's breadth, and the neck gaped open over his collarbones and let cool air brush delicately down his chest, making his nipples stand visibly under the thin material. The breeches were only slightly better, hanging off his hipbones and clinging loose and soft to his legs like caressing hands.

Merlin swallowed, shivering while the prince's avid gaze seemed to trace every barely covered line of his body, until he felt like he might as well have left the clothes off altogether. Then the prince was unfastening his cloak and stepping forward, wrapping the warm, thick cloth around Merlin's shoulders with a proprietary air.

"Where are you headed?" the prince asked.

"Camelot," Merlin said and licked his lips.

"Excellent. You can come with us. Share Arthur's horse, he's carrying the least baggage," said the glossy-haired knight, who was promptly smacked down again. "

Arthur glared at the knight, but guided Merlin firmly to his horse anyway, and boosted him up with a hand to his arse when Merlin hesitated and said, "I'm not sure..."

And then they went back to Camelot together and Arthur took Merlin to his chambers to peel him out of Arthur's sleepwear. 

**not the end**

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted Merlin in Arthur's clothes. :)


End file.
